When you first look at the Naturmobil it resembles a normal, modern stagecoach, but as soon as you see the horse in the back, standing on some kind of treadmill, you start to sense something is fishy. The Naturmobil is the ultimate horse-powered vehicle, because unlike other modern cars it’s powered by an actual horse. Naturmobil is a symbol of helping to save the environment and proves how easy it is to build a vehicle that doesn’t need fossil fuel, all you need is a strong horse and a bit of imagination. That brings us to how the Naturmobil functions: you get the horse in the back on the conveyor belt, a pneumatic system lifts the front a little so the horse starts walking naturally. The power of its walking goes into a 36-gear gearbox and makes the car reach a speed of 25-30km/h, but on a long straight road it can even reach 70-80km/h. And don’t worry about the horse, the vehicle’s official site says, sensors in the suspension sense when the temperature of the horse gets to high, or it gets to tired, a DC motor steps in and runs Naturmobil at a constant speed. The horse also has several food and water recipients and even a doo-doo disposal system, so he’s quite comfortable.

I’m really a fan of environment-friendly vehicles, so any prototypes, no matter how wacky they are, have my deepest appreciation!

This isn’t cruel – far from it. This provides mechanical advantage to a horse in the same way a bicycle provides mechanical advantage to a human.

I can carry a 50 pound pack approximately 30 miles in a day, before I’m exhausted. With a bike, I can carry over 100 pounds, over 120 miles in a day before exhaustion. Which method is more efficient?

The reason it is more efficient to bike than walk is simple. It doesn’t take much energy to move an object perpendicular to gravity. Any force that overcomes friction will do. Walking doesn’t just apply horizontal forces, though. Most of the energy consumed in walking is simply used to keep the body from crashing into the ground. If you can channel some of that fall-prevention energy into forward motion (any type of pushing or pulling) you increase the efficiency of your gait. The horse is pulling more than he would if he was harnessed to the front of this vehicle, but every bit of extra force is applied to forward motion, rather than in fighting gravity. He can travel farther for the same total energy output. A LOT farther, and a LOT faster.